'Barefoot Bandit' caught after two years on the run

This undated image provided by the Island County Sheriff's Office in Washington state shows Colton Harris-Moore, aka the " Barefoot Bandit" reportedly using a stolen camera in June 2008.AFP
/ Getty

The FBI "wanted" poster issued July 7, 2010, for Colton Harris-Moore, 19. Harris-Moore, dubbed the "Barefoot Bandit," is accused of carrying out a catch-me-if-you-can crime spree stretching across several U.S. states and Western Canada.Federal Bureau of Investigation
/ Photo Handout

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After two years of evading police and building up a cult following as a modern-day Billy the Kid, Colton Harris-Moore — the “Barefoot Bandit” — was captured Sunday morning in a dramatic high speed pre-dawn boat chase in the Bahamas after police disabled his boat with a well-aimed shot to the engine.

Harris-Moore, 19, was arrested early Sunday morning after he attempted to flee police in a stolen boat near the island of Eleuthera, about 80 kilometres east of the capital city of Nassau, said Sgt. Chrislyn Skippings, a spokeswoman with the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Bahamian officials had been searching for the past week for the wily fugitive — identified by the FBI as the prime suspect in more than 70 investigations involving residential and commercial burglaries, and the thefts of vehicles, boats and airplanes, in southern British Columbia and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

On July 4, the U.S. embassy alerted local authorities that Harris-Moore had allegedly stolen a plane in Bloomington, Ind., and was believed to be headed for the Caribbean island.

Last week, the plane was located by Bahamian police in some swampland on Great Abaco Island, where it had crash-landed.

Ever since, police had been investigating sightings of the teen on a few different islands, said Skippings. The Bahamas is made up of 29 different islands, many of which are a short boat ride from one another.

The nearly week-long search for the teen, during which he is suspected of having committed several thefts, ended just after 2 a.m. on Sunday, when police responded to a sighting of the fugitive on Harbour Island.

“Our officers chased the suspect in a boat after he tried to evade them and officers had to shoot out the engine of his boat before arresting him,” said Skippings.

Skippings would not confirm reports that Harris-Moore put a handgun to his own head when confronted with capture.

The capture unfolded at the Romora Bay Resort and Marina, where the suspect, carrying a gun and knapsack, told security director Kenneth Strachan, “They’re going to kill me,” according to a CNN report.

“At one point, the boy threw his computer in the water and put a gun to his head. He was going to kill himself. Police talked him out of it,” resort manager Anne Ward told CNN.

Police did confiscate a firearm and other evidence from Harris-Moore once he was taken into custody, said Skippings.

The teen suspect was given a clean bill of health by a doctor, and then flown to Nassau on Sunday morning, where he remains in police custody.

Skippings said it has not yet been determined what charges will be laid in the Bahamas, but Harris-Moore is expected to appear in court later in the week. Skippings said it is likely the teen will be extradited to the U.S.

He has a criminal record dating back to the time he was 12 years old. His mother, Pam Kohler, has described him as having an IQ "three points below Einstein."

Described in reports as a skilled outdoorsman, authorities say Harris-Moore has been on the run, allegedly stealing and living mostly in the woods, since he escaped in 2008 from a Washington State group home.

A U.S. federal warrant was issued for his arrest on Dec. 11 after he was charged with interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft in connection with the theft of a plane from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, that crash-landed near Snohomish, Wash., last September.

Police have theorized that Harris-Moore learned how to hot-wire planes and fly them by studying manuals and online resources, adding to his cultlike status among his many fans on the Internet. As of Sunday, a Facebook fan page had more than 65,000 members, and a website dedicated to the fugitive was accepting donations for his defence fund.

Dubbed the “Barefoot Bandit” for allegedly committing some crimes while shoeless, Harris-Moore’s exploits have caused him to be viewed by his fans as a romantic figure — quixotic, independent and resourceful, with a flair for drama. On one occasion he allegedly left cash at a veterinary clinic along with a note saying he had stolen some “extra cash” and wanted it to be used to help animals.

Another report said Harris-Moore had deliberately crashed a Mercedes into a roadside gas storage tank and used the explosion as a distraction to escape police.

In another incident, investigators found a series of chalk outlines of footprints leading out the door of a burgled store in Washington state, and a note that said “C-Ya!”, which they believed to be a message from the Barefoot Bandit.

Harris-Moore was named as a person of interest in a break-in last September at an unmanned airport in Creston, B.C., where two planes were moved and a vehicle was stolen and later ditched near the U.S. border.

The FBI, which released a wanted poster for the fugitive last week, had been offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of Harris-Moore, who they described as armed and dangerous.

John Henry Browne, a high-profile criminal defence lawyer in Seattle, Wash., said Sunday morning he was waiting for a phone call from Harris-Moore “to see if I can help him.”

“If he wants to call me, he will,” Browne said.

Browne said he was put on retainer by Harris-Moore’s mother in early June. That same month, Kohler sent a message to her son through the CBS show 48 Hours/Mystery: “Be careful, I love you and get in touch with John Henry Browne — please.”

He said that if he does represent Harris-Moore, he’d likely tell him to waive fighting extradition back to the United States.

He estimated Harris-Moore’s alleged crime spree could net him a negotiated sentence from seven to 15 years in prison — if authorities can come up with the proof.

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